Nutrition Tools Standards and Guidelines Nutrient

• The Philippines is one of the countries in the world where a significant number of children remain malnourished despite the economic growth and development in the country over the past decades
• Data from the 2013 National Nutrition Survey (2013 NNS) in the Philippines reported that among children under 5 years old, the prevalence of malnutrition measured by underweight and stunting was 20% and 30%, respectively, and the prevalence starts to increase at 6–11 months
• Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs)

  A generic term for a set of nutrient reference values that includes the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), Adequate Intake (AI), Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL), and Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)
• Estimated Average Requirement (EAR)


  A daily nutrient intake level that meets the median or average requirement of healthy individuals in particular life stage and sex group, corrected for incomplete utilization or dietary nutrient bioavailability
• The estimated average requirement (EAR) is the amount of a nutrient that is estimated to meet the requirement for a specific criterion of adequacy of half of the healthy individuals of a specific age, sex, and life-stage
• The amount of the nutrient necessary to meet the appropriate criterion of adequacy varies from one individual to the next, but the data are usually distributed normally or can be transformed to achieve a normal distribution
• Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)

  The average daily dietary intake level that is sufficient to meet the nutrient requirement of nearly all (97 to 98 percent) healthy individuals in a particular gender and life stage group
• Recommended Energy/Nutrient Intake (RENI)

  Also known as Recommended Daily Allowances, a level of intake of energy or nutrient which is considered adequate for the maintenance of health and well-being of healthy persons in the population
• The 2015 Philippine Dietary Recommended Intake (PDRI) shall be used for planning and assessing diets for individuals and groups, developing food-based dietary guidelines, formulating standards and regulations on food fortification, nutrition labeling and claims, and food safety, designing and evaluating food and nutrition assistance programs, determining food bundles, setting food production targets, and other related uses that require consideration of nutrient and dietary intakes
• Adequate Intake (AI)

  A daily nutrient intake level that is based on observed or experimentally-determined approximation of the average nutrient intake by a group (groups) of apparently healthy people that are assumed to sustain a defined nutritional state
• The AI is based on observed or experimentally determined estimates of nutrient intake by a group (or groups) of healthy people. For example, the AI for young infants, for whom human milk is the recommended sole source of food for the first 4 to 6 months, is based on the daily mean nutrient intake supplied by human milk for healthy, full-term infants who are exclusively breastfed
• The main intended use of the AI is as a goal for the nutrient intake of individuals. For example: if an individual has a total calorie in a day of 1,500, that individual can take at least 75% of the total calorie for a day which is 1,125 calorie is allowable
• Tolerable Upper Intake Level or Upper Limit (UL)

  The highest average daily nutrient intake level likely to pose no adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population
• Basal Metabolism

  A measure of energy needed by the body at rest for its internal chemical activities like respiration, cellular metabolism, circulation, glandular activity and maintenance of body temperature
• Basal Metabolism Rate (BMR) is the rate of basal metabolism in a given person at a given time and situation
• Factors affecting BMR or Individuals Caloric Need

  • Surface Area
  • Sex/Gender
  • Age
  • Body composition
  • Activity
  • State of nutrition
  • Sleep
  • Endocrine glands
  • Fever
  • Climate
• Physical Activity (PA)


  Calorie requirements depend upon the type and amount of exercise or work engaged into. The more vigorous the physical work, the greater the calorie cost
• Food and Fluid Intake Regulating Mechanisms

  • Thirst
  • Hunger
  • Appetite
  • Satiety
• Normal blood glucose level is 70-110 mg/dl, and for Diabetes Mellitus it is more than 140 mg/dl for 2 consecutive readings